Grand Jury Indictments Today? (update 3)
Thursday October 27, 2005
Update 11.25 am PDT
No indictments today. Still no leak on whether Friday will mean indictments, call for empanelling new grand jury, or case closed. Speculation, however, is rampant.
Update 11.45 pm PDT
The Washington Note reports that the Office of the Special Counsel signed a lease for expanded office space: "More office space needed to shut down the operation? I think not. Fitzgerald's operation is expanding." The tips keep coming, despite the fact that the author, Steve Clemons, spent much of Tuesday night in the hospital after being hit by by a car as he walked across the street.
For the latest in mainstream media on the story, check out Editor & Publisher.
Update 3 pm PDT
ABC reports that the grand jury adjourned for the day after three hours of dilberation. No indictments were filed. The Washington Post recaps prior reports of how Karl Rove has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. And TPM continues exploring the Italian investigation into the forged documents that appeared just before Congress voted on the Iraq war resolution.
The grand jury investigating the possible CIA leak meets on Wednesday, and White House sources expect sealed indictments to be filed as well, according to the Washington Post (via Seattle Times) and the Financial Times. The Washington Note adds that 1-5 indictments are expected and that the targets have received their letters; White House press conference reportedly set for Thursday.
More Americans may be following this story than I thought. A CNN/USA Today/Gallop poll suggests only 1-in-10 Americans believe White House officials did nothing illegal or unethical in connection with the Valerie Plame case.
This kind of attention is bad news for Republicans. Conservative commentator and Presidential candidate Pat Buchannan on Hardball:
According to Reuters and the Post, FBI agents interviewed residents in Valerie Plame's neighborhood on Monday, suggesting "the prosecutor wanted to show that Plame's status was covert, and that there was damage from the revelation that she worked at the CIA."
In related news, former CIA Director George Tenet tells MSNBC that he did not tell Cheney or anyone in the VP's office about Plame, contrary to a report in the New York Times. And TPM provides more details on the Italian forged document investigation, including this tidbit about Nicolo Pollari, director of the SISMI intelligence agency, who had "good contacts with folks at Doug Feith's Office of Special Plans":
Cheney's Role
Whether or not Vice President Cheney orchestrated the leak, his public statements appear duplicitious. For example, in September 2003, Cheney said on NBC that he did not know Joseph Wilson or who sent him to Africa, according to the Post report. However, in a 12 June 2003 meeting with his chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Cheney told Libby that Valerie Plame may have been involved in the decision to send Wilson, her husband, to Niger.
Blogs covering this story: Basie!, Constitutional Law, Political Animal, TPM (2004), Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.
See Plame Timeline and Nigerian Yellow Cake - Facts and Fiction.
Technorati Tags and Profile
Cheney, Iraq, Scooter Libby, Valerie Plame, Politics
No indictments today. Still no leak on whether Friday will mean indictments, call for empanelling new grand jury, or case closed. Speculation, however, is rampant.
Update 11.45 pm PDT
The Washington Note reports that the Office of the Special Counsel signed a lease for expanded office space: "More office space needed to shut down the operation? I think not. Fitzgerald's operation is expanding." The tips keep coming, despite the fact that the author, Steve Clemons, spent much of Tuesday night in the hospital after being hit by by a car as he walked across the street.
For the latest in mainstream media on the story, check out Editor & Publisher.
Update 3 pm PDT
ABC reports that the grand jury adjourned for the day after three hours of dilberation. No indictments were filed. The Washington Post recaps prior reports of how Karl Rove has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. And TPM continues exploring the Italian investigation into the forged documents that appeared just before Congress voted on the Iraq war resolution.
The grand jury investigating the possible CIA leak meets on Wednesday, and White House sources expect sealed indictments to be filed as well, according to the Washington Post (via Seattle Times) and the Financial Times. The Washington Note adds that 1-5 indictments are expected and that the targets have received their letters; White House press conference reportedly set for Thursday.
More Americans may be following this story than I thought. A CNN/USA Today/Gallop poll suggests only 1-in-10 Americans believe White House officials did nothing illegal or unethical in connection with the Valerie Plame case.
This kind of attention is bad news for Republicans. Conservative commentator and Presidential candidate Pat Buchannan on Hardball:
What the White House has to fear is a trial, six months or a year down the road, where all the secrets of what was done to stampede us into war come spilling out, when the war is now going well, giving Democrats an excuse to say they were misled in voting for war.Loose Ends
According to Reuters and the Post, FBI agents interviewed residents in Valerie Plame's neighborhood on Monday, suggesting "the prosecutor wanted to show that Plame's status was covert, and that there was damage from the revelation that she worked at the CIA."
In related news, former CIA Director George Tenet tells MSNBC that he did not tell Cheney or anyone in the VP's office about Plame, contrary to a report in the New York Times. And TPM provides more details on the Italian forged document investigation, including this tidbit about Nicolo Pollari, director of the SISMI intelligence agency, who had "good contacts with folks at Doug Feith's Office of Special Plans":
When foreign intelligence agencies met the documents with skepticism, Pollari used his own contacts in the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans and an aide to the president's national security adviser to promote the dossier, La Repubblica said, without elaborating.
Cheney's Role
Whether or not Vice President Cheney orchestrated the leak, his public statements appear duplicitious. For example, in September 2003, Cheney said on NBC that he did not know Joseph Wilson or who sent him to Africa, according to the Post report. However, in a 12 June 2003 meeting with his chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Cheney told Libby that Valerie Plame may have been involved in the decision to send Wilson, her husband, to Niger.
Blogs covering this story: Basie!, Constitutional Law, Political Animal, TPM (2004), Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.
See Plame Timeline and Nigerian Yellow Cake - Facts and Fiction.
Technorati Tags and Profile
Cheney, Iraq, Scooter Libby, Valerie Plame, Politics